Author Institution: Department of Biology, John Carroll Universit

White, Andrew M.

The Ohio Journal of Science

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78 S. J. PILIERO, ET AL Vol. 79Copyright © 1979 Ohio Acad. Sci. 0030-0950/79/0002-0079$1.00/0BRIEF NOTEAN UNUSUALLY LARGE BROOD OF NORTHERN COOPERHEADS(AGKISTRODON CONTORTRIX MOKESON) FROM OHIO1ANDREW M. WHITE, Department of Biology, John Carroll University, Cleveland, OH 44118OHIO J. SCI. 79(2): 78, 1979Brood sizes from 1 to 17 have been reported for the Northern Copperhead (Gloyd1933; Smith 1940; Wright and Wright 1957). McDuffie (1960) studied 21 captive-born broods from Adams and Scioto counties, Ohio and found the average numberof young was 5.3 per brood (range 3 to 9).In July, 1969 a northern copperhead, 99 cm total length, was caputred near StateRoute 52 and Turkey Creek, Scioto Co., Ohio. On 25 August a brood was producedby this female which consisted of 21 individuals. One of the young was incompletelydeveloped and dead when found. Two others were active but later died in the pre-natal membranes. The remaining eighteen were in excellent condition and were sub-sequently released. Considering the number of fully formed young, this brood of 20is a record number of young for an Ohio specimen and for the subspecies.Twenty-six other captive Ohio females kept by me produced broods of 4 to 9young (average 5.42). By combining the above, 47 captive-born broods from Ohiovaried from 3 to 9 young per brood (average 5.4). The brood of 20 was considered tobe highly unusual, and was not included in the brood size calculations.LITERATURE CITEDGlovd, H. K. 1933 Studies on the Breeding Habits of the Copperhead, Agkistrodon mokeson."Occas. Papers Mich. Acad. Sci. 19: 587-604.McDuffie, George 1960 Studies on the Ecology and Life History of the Copperhead, Agkistrodoncontortrix mokeson (Daudin) in Ohio. Unpubl. Ph.D. Thesis, University of Cincinnati. Cin-cinnati, OH.Smith, A. G. 1940 Notes on the Reproduction of the Northern Copperhead in Pennsylvania.Annal. Carnegie Museum 28: 77-82.Wright, A. H. and A. A. Wright 1957 The Handbook of Snakes of the United States and Canada,p. 912-913. Comstock Publishing Asso., Ithaca, NY.xNote received 3 March 1978 and in revised form 30 August 1978 (#78-101.

Brief Note  An Unusually Large Brood of Northern Cooperheads (Agkistrodon Contortrix Mokeson) from Ohio

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Brief Note An Unusually Large Brood of Northern Cooperheads (Agkistrodon Contortrix Mokeson) from Ohio

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